Biographical Essay- Myra Belle Starr

Myra Maybelle Shirley also commonly known as the “Bandit Queen” was born on February 5, 1848, on a farm near Carthage, Missouri. She was one of six children, but the only daughter of her farmer parents, John and Elizabeth Shirley. When her family moved into Carthage her father became a prosperous innkeeper and slave holder. Belle attended the Carthage Female Academy, where she excelled in reading, spelling, grammar, arithmetic, manner, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and developed a love for playing the piano. She later attended another private school named Cravens, where she further nurtured her love for music. At the start of the Civil War, her parents were southern sympathizers and supporters of Confederate troops in Missouri. Myra’s parents were apparently pleased, and were even more dedicated to supporting the Confederate cause when their oldest son, John, joined a squad of bushwhackers in bloody reprisals along the Missouri-Kansas border. Later that as a result of fighting for the Confederacy with William C. Quantrill's guerillas, John was killed by Union troops in Sarcoxie, Missouri. Many believe that his influence led Belle in the decision of her life’s direction. By 1864, after Carthage was burned, the family had migrated to Scyene, Texas, near Dallas, and again established a hotel and tavern. They soon had multiple intriguing visitors.

At the end of the war the remnants of Quantrill's gang turned to undisguised outlawry, becoming notorious as the gangs led by the Younger brothers and by Jesse and Frank James. They occasionally sought refuge at the Shirley farm, and Belle became close to Jesse James and his gang, the rest of the Youngers, and other outlaws, many of whom, like her brother, had served with Quantrill's raiders duri...

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...ustom. Later the grave was robbed, the pistol and Jewelry were gone.

In the legendary period of American history known as the Old West, the law of the whole nation had yet to tame that frontier which was spottily settled. This resulted in lawlessness seen in the personage of those known as outlaws and lawbreakers whose notorious reputations often exceeded their very person to mythical proportions. Belle Starr was one such outlaw. From her association with outlaws such as Jesse James and the Younger brothers, she reached a level of fantastic infamy that today leaves the facts of her life not always distinguishable from the fiction. Belle's life is an odyssey of many marriage's and affairs with felons, petty criminals, and unsavory characters. Belle Starr’s legacy will live on forever reminding us of the past events that still connect with current societies events.